Kojuro Katakura

Kojuro Katakura (1557-4 December 1615), personal name Kagetsuna, was the daimyo of the Katakura clan and a vassal of the Date clan. First serving under Terumune Date, Kojuro later became one of "The Three Great Men of the Date Clan".

Biography
The son of Kagenaga Katakura, a priest turned samurai, Kojuro was a page for Terumune Date at a young age. Later, he became the personal attendant of the daimyo's son and heir Masamune Date, and when Terumune died, he became a strategist for the Date clan, helping Masamune defeat the Hatakeyama at the Battle of Hitotoribashi. After the Date became Toyotomi vassals he took part in the Fall of Odawara, but was one of the loyal retainers who attempted to restore Masamune's rule in the Kasai-Osaki Uprising. Despite the defeat of the rebels he was allowed to hold a general's rank in the Japanese invasions of Korea.

After the death of Hideyoshi Hashiba and the end of the Toyotomi Shogunate the Date backed the pro-Ieyasu Tokugawa Eastern Army against the Toyotomi loyalist Western Army, and he fought along with Masamune in the Battle of Hasedo in October 1600. After the Western Army and Eastern Army both retreated from the battlefield and ended their rivalry in Dewa Province, Katakura was made the daimyo of the Katakura clan. He sent troops under Shigenaga Katakura, his son, to fight in the Siege of Osaka, as he was ill. He died during the battle.